Star Trek: Race for Atlantis
by Slim Dim
Summary: The Federatin, the Romulons, and the Borg all after the secrettes of this anchent cultuer. COMPLEAT.
1. Prologue

Preface 

The office doors opened smoothly, and light spilled in from the living room, Decker walked in rubbing his eyes.

He hit a switch on the desk and the incessant beeping was replaced with the image of a man in a parka with the hood pulled up over his head so you could hardly see his face.

"John, so good to speak to you again, we've almost broken through the permafrost." The figure on the screen blurted out.

"That's good, you got me up at three o-clock in the bloody morning to tell me that!" Decker mumbled still half asleep, pulling a cup of coffee from the replicator. "Did you know the Pluto defence platform took out another Borg scout yesterday?"

"What's that got to do with us?"

"They retrieved a synaptic node. The orders were to obtain information from the Atlantian colony."

"What do the Borg want info from an ancient earth civilisation?"

"The Atlantian's weren't from earth according to Borg Intel they were an ancient space-faring culture, with technology, to coin a popular phrase. 'The like of which you have never seen.' Earth is the only known location of an Atlantian colony."

"Oh God!"

"Exactly."

Mike stood in the tent on the Antarctic plane and the shiver that went down his spine had nothing to do with the cold wind. The Borg, they were already dead, or worse, they just didn't know it yet.

"What's up?" Adam asked walking up beside him.

"Put the word around that Starfleet will be sending in a security team in." Mike said. 

"Why?" Adam asked, looking confused.

"Because they are." Mike snapped.

"Ok, ok, don't get stressed with me." Adam said, backing away. 

"Sorry, it's just I got some bad news." Mike looked at the scuffed toes of his boots.

"When are the Starfleet troops coming in?" Adam asked changing the subject, Mike was grateful.

"Tomorrow. They don't want us opening it up without them here."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

Captain Decker stood on the transporter pad waiting for the rest of the Security team; he was wearing a thick, black coat over his normal uniform. He adjusted the strap of the Phaser Rifle, the new CX900 had duel firing modes, constant beam, like all the older models had, and pulls fire, which was more powerful, but has less containment, the new model had rechargeable, kinetic power cells. The rest of the security team came in wearing similar coats and all carrying Phaser rifles. 

Decker turned to the ensign manning the transporter console. 

"Energise." He ordered, and the sleek interior of the San Francisco transporter room dissolved into the Antarctic plane.

Two of the Archaeologists walked up to greet them, Decker recognised Mike, and waved in greeting.

"John! I didn't know you were going to come, if I had I'd have tidied up a bit!" He called as way of greeting. 

"I don't know it's tidier than my room." He replied. "Ok, beta team fan out and begin monitoring, for any signs of Borg activity, Alpha team you have the night shift so go get some rest." He said noticing the security teams, who were looking as though they didn't want to be there, and it had nothing to do with the impending Borg threat, and more do with the temperature.

"Come John, I'll show you what we have gotten up so far."  Mike said moving off to a tenet.

Shortly afterward, Decker was looking over the most intricate piece of technology he had ever seen.

"What does it do?" He asked.

"Well we aren't entirely sure, but we aren't technicians, what do you think?"

Decker murmured turning the small device in his hands. "Have you tried powering it up?" 

"No, where would you start?" 

"If you put in the presence of an oscillating EM field then it might promote an electrical response."

"Ah you mean like the old AC method, it's worth a try, and all we need is a magnet."

Several minutes later they had the equipment set up, and were ready to give it a try.

"Ok let's go for it." Mike said, Decker pushed the control and the electro magnet started rotating the circuitry came to life and a blue green light emanated from it, and swung around the room, before spluttering out of life.

"That was disappointing." Decker said.

The following morning Decker stood with Mike and the rest of the Archaeologists, the security team scanned the horizon.

"Open it up!" Mike called, and the phaser drill cut through the last layer into Atlantis.

"We have cut into the central ring, we believe that this would be where meetings would take place, a town centre if you would." Mike said.

The archaeologists set up an elevator with the crane and started sending people down, Mike, Adam and two of the security officers, a young Ensign Sing and Lieutenant Merewether. 

Mike was the first off the elevator, his life's work, all his ambitions; and Decker's once, but not after Starfleet had taken him, he didn't care for the past any more, just the future. They were still friends, but Decker had changed, he hadn't been the same for years, since Wolf 359. He was shaken from his musings as the Elevator brought another load of people, three more of his fellow archaeologists and another security officer.

A sound caught his attention; he whirled about to see a door open and Ensign Sing move to cover it.

Silly girl, he thought, what is going to be in there after thirty thousand years? An Old one?

They moved into the room holding up flashlights to illuminate the walls, the room was huge, easily four hundred metres high, and almost double that across, in the centre there was a small alter with an impression in the top, it looked as though some thing should be placed there. But what? The shape of the impression reminded him of something, but what. Maybe Decker would have a clue. 

Then it dawned on him, and he placed the device he and Decker had been working on in the recess. It fitted! The blue green shimmering light swung around the room and projected a map over the walls. 

A transporter beam distracted him, and he saw a Borg drone appearing, it moved toward Lieutenant Merewether, he pointed the phaser rifle at it and fired, but another came up behind him and the shot went wide. Ensign Sing swung her weapon at the drone on Merewether and fired. The lance of phaser fire smashed into the drones chest and sent it skittering backwards smashing into the alter.

"Behind you!"  She called. Mike swung around to see a drone behind him it raised it's arm and the assimilation tubules sailed toward his neck in slow motion yet at the same time happening all to quickly, all he could do was scream.

On the surface Decker could hardly contain his excitement, despite what Mike thought he was still fascinated by the past, Atlantis specifically. And now he was going to see it! It would be the best thing to happen to him in a long time, since Wolf 359, where his parents were killed, or assimilated by the Borg. A scream cut across the Antarctic wasteland.

"Shit! All units get down there NOW!" He called to the security officers scattered around the hole. He jumped, grabbed onto the lift cable and abseiled down. By the time he landed on the cart his gloves were shredded.

He jumped down onto the floor. A Borg drone came out of an open door, he fired into it's chest the pulse blast smashed the drone in the shoulder, tearing off one cybernetic limb and spinning the drone around the second shot slamming into it's head. Commander McKenzie jumped off the cart and sighted into the room from which came an ominous green glow. They ran in to see Sing shooting into the chest of a drone with little affect, and Merewether lying ominously still. The drone pulled its assimilation tubules from Mike's neck and turned to the Starfleet officers.

Decker shot three blasts into the chest of the nearest drone that sent it ricocheting back but did not do enough damage to stop it, they had adapted.

Leaving the fight he ran to Mike.

"John they can't know what I know. Kill me now, quick." Mike gasped as the Nanites shoved through his veins, making them expand painfully.

"No there has to be another way." Decker replied turning to fire at point blank into a drone's chest, it exploded in a rain of molten metal, at point blank rang the shields didn't do much good.

"Kill me damn it! Don't condemn me out of some twisted loyalty!"

"No!" Decker yelled as Mike grabbed the barrel of the phaser rifle and held it to his head. 

"Just pull the trigger. Please." Decker turned pulling the rifle from Mike's weakening grasp to shoot another drone; at the same moment he pulled the hand phaser from his belt and shot Mike.

McKenzie re-modulated his phaser shot the drones off Sing she tried to stand but couldn't.

"Don't move." He said. She nodded and looked at something over his shoulder. He followed her gaze to see a drone raise some sort of projectile weapon. He dodged and saw a dart impact on the wall behind him. McKenzie returned fire with his phaser and the drone went down.

One jumped him from behind, and bore him to the ground with its weight. He saw Merewether.

"Merewether help me damn it!" He called. Merewether turned to show the side of his face covered in grey veins. 

"Resistance is futile." He intoned in a rough voice, and moved toward McKenzie, he picked him up, with that inhuman strength that Borg had, and began to choke him.

The plasma grenade took Merewether in the side and sent his broken corps smashing into the wall. The second shot blew the Borg on McKenzie's back to smithereens, the heat form the explosion seared his face causing him to wince.

McKenzie picked up his dropped phaser rifle and targeted the last Borg. As he fired the drone dematerialised. He hit his COM badge. "Commander McKenzie to Starfleet. There is a Borg vessel in Earth orbit, it must be destroyed!"

"Understood. Dispatching ships." The calm voice came over the com channel.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

Captain Decker looked through the porthole and caught his first glimpse of it, the ship, his ship. It had been two weeks since the Borg attack in the Antarctic. Starfleet's finest had been working on the map they had uncovered. The Borg vessel had been destroyed, but a coded transmission had been picked up coming from it.

The shuttle Docked with the Excelsior sill within the exoskeleton of the construction yard. Decker stepped of the shuttle into the shuttle bay and looked around. The bay was small but well designed, with room for two full-sized shuttle, windows overlooked it form the control room, and the admiral stood waiting patently for him.

"Admiral Pickard, what a _pleasant surprise." Decker said politely._

"Yes. I'm pleased to meet you too." Pickard replied. "Shall we begin your tour?"

"At your pleasure admiral." Decker replied curiously.

"Then we shall begin with Engineering."   He said marching off. Decker followed at a brisk pace the smile was begging to hurt he teeth.

"And finally let us take a look at the bridge, after which you and your senior staff will be briefed on the mission." Pickard said as the trubolift came to a halt and the doors opened to reveal a sleek bridge.

"Your senior staff." Pickard remarked. "First we have Lieutenant Crusher." He said gesturing to a young woman at the helm. "Ensign Bates." Indicating a young clean-shaven man at Opps. "Lieutenant Commander Brown." Indicating a stunning blond at tactical, she returned Decker's smile. "And finally Commander Quiche." 

Commander Quiche had been worked with Decker in before on the Apex V station, he was a tall, clean-shaven Vulcan with a dark completion.

All the senior staff followed them into the briefing room, and settled at their seats, Pickard began by activating the wall console, and an image of the map from the Atlantian room came up.

"We have extrapolated the location of another Atlantian colony we believe that this is some sort of map room." The screen shifted overlaying modern star charts over the Atlantian map.

"Those coordinates are deep inside Breen space." Lieutenant Paris said.

"Yes, but we have no choice, the Borg already have this information, and intelligence indicates that the Romuluns are interested in acquiring this technology. So we must act now. To get you into Breen space we have collaborated with the Klingons, are you aware of operation looking glass?"

"Yes. The Klingons were going to use the mirror universe to launch an attack into the heart of Dominion occupied space, there was never an opportunity for it to used." Lt. Commander Brown offered.  

"Well done." Pickard said, to Decker's ears it sounded condescending. "We will be using the same technique." 

"But creating an exit aperture uses a massive amount of energy." Lt Commander Brown interrupted.

"We will be using the Midas array to project you entry aperture, and the Excelsior has been rigged to project an exit aperture. The array will need 90 minutes to recharge before you can project another exit aperture. Now I'll hand over to Lt. Commander Brown, to brief you on the Excelsior's weaponry."

He stepped down, and Lt. Commander Brown stepped up, she hit a control the map was replaced by a schematic of the Excelsior.

"You have the standard, phaser canons, six on the forward section and two on the aft. Torpedo bays, rigged to replicate and fire photon and quantum torpedoes, as well as the experimental Phantom torpedo, of which you have a limited supply. The Phantom torpedo uses the Romulon phase cloak to breach the shield perimeter and the outer hull of an enemy vessel before de-cloaking and detonating. You also have Pulse phaser turrets." She gestured towards the schematic. "The ship has been equipped with the experimental Ablative Armour, Admiral Janeway developed, and unlike the system she implemented this works in parallel with the standard combat shielding. The narrow band transporters allow you to use transporters whilst the shields are up, and possibly even transport through the shields of enemy vessels. The ship also has the ability to deploy gravity mines." She finished gesturing to the schematic.

"And now," Admiral Picard moved to stand at the head of the table. "I will depart, the Excelsior is due to depart for the Midas array in 15 minutes." He moved toward the turbo lift and at the door turned. "Captain will you escort me to the transpoter room?"

Decker was surprised at the request but polity got up and moved to join the admiral in the turbo lift and fixed the polite smile to his lips.

"Engineering are we ready to go to warp yet?" Quiche asked into his com.

"Yes sir, well apart form the mooring clamps and Io station has on us sir." Lutenant Jermyn said in his strong Texan accent.

"Lutenant Crusher, contact the station and tell them to remove the mooring clamps." He said raising his eyebrows at what undoubtedly Jermyn had considered a joke. It was unfunny by human standards; he could see this was going to be an, _interesting assignment._

"Captain, that smile hasn't once reached your eyes." Pickard finally said.

"Permission to speak freely?" Decker said. Touching the control that paused the turbo lift.

"Granted." Pickard said. This should be good_._ He thought.

"I don't like you, I don't admire you, I don't want to be your friend, and I would never serve with you!" By the end Decker was almost yelling. He paused to gather himself; he doubted that smacking one of Starfleet's finest would do he carer much good. "But I will tolerate you."

"And captain why do you harbour such resentment for me?" Although it might be worth it, smacking him that is.

"You killed my parents, or gave them a fait worse than death." Decker balled his hands into fists to restrain himself

"How? I've never served with either of them. I heard your father was a good captain, until the battle of Wolf 35…" The realisation finally downed on him. "You blame me for their deaths at the hands of the Borg?"

"Yes." Decker said through clenched teeth

"Io One to beam out." Decker watched Pickard dematerialise. DAMN HIM! Decker thought

"Damn him!" He yelled hitting the wall. He spun and smacked the control that restarted the lift. "Return to bridge. No Deck 2 captains quarters personal authorisation Decker 356." 

Amy Brown was worried about the captain, she still cared for him even after 2 years, she had seen him after the battle of Wolf 359, helped him through those hard times. She had thought that he was over it, he had finished grieving. But seeing him around Pickard showed her the emotions were still raw.

"Lt. Commander!" Quiche said.

"Oh, umm sorry, what was it you said?" She asked sheepishly.

"Do we a clear ext rout?" He said patiently.

"Yes sir. Ext rout is clear of traffic."

"Thank you."

"Sir?"  
"Yes"

"May I be dismissed?"

"As you wish Lt. Commander." And then into his COM. "Lt. Hannigan report to the bridge."

"Thank you sir."

She went to the turbo lift and turned as the doors swished closed.

"Computer, locate Captain Decker." She demanded.

"Captain Decker is in his quarters." The computer's clean female voice replied.

"Deck 2." She ordered and the turbo lift whirred into life.

Decker stood in his quarters, surrounded by his packaged things, and stared out the large window as the stars shot toward him in rainbow streaks, as though someone had thrown a bucket of oil into the blackness of space.

It had been 4 years since the death of Mick and Shannon Decker, on the USS Ulasies defending earth form the Borg at Wolf 359. But the memories were still raw in his mind. He could remember it like it was yesterday. 

Commander Decker shoved the last of his cloths into the crate, and snapped the mag-locks closed, the door chime chirped.

"It's open!" he called. 

A young man walked in, in his hands he held a pad, and held himself like as though he was baring a heavy burden. But still it didn't occur to Decker the reason for his visit.

"Commander John Decker?" The man asked.

"Yes what is it?" Decker said going back to his packing; he was to be transferred to The Argo that afternoon.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news." Then it dawn on him. "Captain Michele Decker and Lutenant Shannon Decker have been killed in the line of duty."

Decker gripped the sites of the crate so hard as to turn his knuckles white.

"Haw?" He said through clenched teeth.

"They died fighting the Borg, at the Battle of Wolf 359. They died for the freedom of the Federation, you should be…"

"Thank you, you can go now." Decker cut him off.

The young man nodded, and walked out quietly, he had done this so many times, and it did not get any easier.

Decker picked up the crate and threw it across the room. The cloths fell out and along with them was a picture, it was of him and his parents, taken on the Marmolada Geyser in the Italian Dolomites. He crawled over to it and picked it up. Cradling the image to his chest he curled up into a ball and wept. That was how Amy had found him 2 hours later.   

Back in his quarters on the Excelsior Captain Decker was roused form his musings by the chirping of the doorbell.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"It's me." Amy's voice came over the COM. 

"Come in then you." 

She did the doors closed behind here.

"Are you ok?"

"Not really."

"I know haw you must feel, after just seeing him."

"No you don't, haw can you know! You never lost someone!"

"Yes I did."

"Who?"

"You." She said closing the distance between them in a stride. "I want you back, but you have to let go. Stop hitting out at people. Or eventually you'll have no one left who cars about you."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He hugged her.

"I hate to think what you did to Captain Pickard." She said a smile tugging at her lips.

"I didn't hit him if that's what you think." He laughed, she laughed. Then they kissed.

"All senior staff, report to the bridge." Quiche's voice came over the com.  


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Have we reached the Midas Array yet?" Decker asked as he and Amy walked onto the bridge.

"Ye sir." Quiche said looking up form his console.

Amy took her place at tactical as Lt. Hannigan moved to the secondary console at the back of the bridge. Captain Decker moved to stand at the centre of the round bridge.

"Contact the Midas Array and tell them wear' ready." He said.

"Eye sir." Lt. Crusher said. Opening the COM channel. "They say that the aperture will open in 30 seconds"

"Captain 3 Romulun war birds are de-cloaking. They are moving in to fire on the station!" Amy called from tactical.

"Shields! Weapons!" Decker said. "Move us into position to defend the station."

The Excelsior moved to block the Romulun fire. The impacts rocked the ship.

"Shields at 96% sir!" Lt. Brown called. 

"Return fire." Decker replied. 

"Torpedoes away." She called grabbing her console to prevent herself form falling to the floor as another impact rocked the ship. Decker Grabbed hold of his command chair.

"Sir one of the ships has broken off and is going for the station."

"Bring us about and fire on that ship! Reinforce the aft shields."

"Eye Sir."

The Excelsior Swung around and fired her forward torpedoes. Just as the Romulun ship launched it's own. The impacts rocked the Midas Array as power couplings blew out across the station; one of the Excelsior's torpedoes hit the nacelle of the Romulun ship.

"Sir we are loosing containment." The young Romulun called as smoke form ruptured lines and blown consoles filled the bridge. "Computer estimates we have 20 seconds to a core breach."

"Damn it!" The Tal-Sheare operative cursed. "Ready my Yacht."

"Sir the Romulun ship has lost containment in its primary core. If it goes then it will generate as 59 mega-tone Quantum Singularity." Bates called.

"We are getting a message from the Midas Array, we have to go now otherwise we wont make it! The station's going to loose power to it's main array in 23 seconds and the Black hole that Romulun ship will make will defiantly destroy it! We have to go now!" Bates called 

"Move in towards the entry window then." Decker sad as another impact rocked the ship.

"Shields at 54%!" Brown shouted over the sirens. 

"Quantum torpedoes full spread." Decker ordered.

"Yes sir."

"15 seconds."

"Fire torpedoes"

"Torpedoes away."

"10 seconds."

"Get us out of here. Now!"

"5 seconds."

"We are through the entry window."

"3 seconds. Oh my God! The Black hole is interacting with the entry window."

"How?"

"The Black holes proximity to the Midas Sun is causing it to grow, it's now at 73 mega-tones. Its power is feeding the entry window."

"Sir we can't fight those Romulun ships, not now."

"Can we close it?" 

"There may be a way. We can use a photon torpedo to destabilise the black holes magnetic field."

"That would be an illogical choice of action, it presents an unacceptable risk."

"Do we have any other options?" 

"No sir."

"Do it. Ensign Crusher, prepare to go to warp."

"Torpedo away."

"Warp 9!"

"Engaged."

"Sir the aperture is closing." 

"If anyone needs me I'll be in my quarters."

The Calsea the Tal-Sheare Operative Marched onto the Shizon Class War-bird's bridge.

"Commander, the task force was unable to stop the Excelsior entering the mirror reality, but the Midas array has been destroyed."  She reported, to the tall Romulan.

"Then your disaster was not of total waste. To keep you informed the Romulan Senit has had to officially brake off Peas talks with the federation. The puts us in a very uncomfortable position." Shalak said his heavy brows, furrowed. "On the upside the Remains are helping us in our bid for Atlantis."

"Do you trust them?" She asked. "The Remains?"

"No, but they provide invaluable help."

She was amazed at his reaction, the had no way to know the Federation had stepped up there plans. This brought up the question. What did the Federation know that they didn't?

"Sir, permission to take another task force to pursue the Excelsior." She asked.

"If you can find them, then yes. Go."

Captain Riker walked to the front of the Titan's Bridge, as the two, all too familiar design, Romulun War birds.

"Since when did the Romuluns start mass producing Shizon's battle ship?" He asked Deana, his first officer. 

She just shrugged gracefully.

"Sir the Romuluns are hailing us." The tactical officer said.

"On screen." Riker said.

The visage of a tall dark Romulun, with heavy brows, appeared on the view screen.

"Federation, the negotiations have ceased, you must levee Space controlled by the Romulun Star Empire at once, or it will be interpreted as an act of war, and you will be destroyed." The communication was then cut.

"What are we going to do?" Lt. Patterson the tactical officer asked.

"We are going to levee." Ricker said.

Shalak watched as the Titan Turned and headed off toward the neutral zone.

"Fire on the Titan." He ordered. 

The 3 Shizon class war-birds opened fire.

"Sir the aft shields have collapsed!" Patterson called over the claxons. 

"Return fire Photon Torpedoes." Ricker yelled.

The ship rocked under more impacts.

"Hull breach on decks 25 through 20 aft section." The computer reported.

"Captain, I would suggest we abandon ship." Patterson called as he put out the fire at his console.

"We can not abandon ship." Riker said. 

More impacts rocked the ship

"Hull breach decks 10 through 3 forward section." The compute reported.

"Will." Deana said. "You have to give the order."

More torpedo impacts rocked the Titan, as Will heard something large give.

"Sir the neck structure has been badly damaged." A young ensign called. 

"All hands, abandon ship. Repeat, all hands, abandon ship." Riker said.

Shalak watched as a torpedo blast sent the saucer section spinning away from the rest of the ship. Escape pods flew off in all directions as the aft section exploded.

"Destroy them all." He ordered.

"With all due respect sir." The Remain Officer suggested. "Maybe we should take prisoners."

"Very well, take prisoners." He agreed grudgingly, the Remains were up to something, but what. 


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Admiral Janeway stood, and walked across the room to look out the window. 

"Has there been any word form the Titan?" She asked Pickard who sat uncomfortably in one of the room's easy chars.

"No. We have had reports of an intense fire fight Near Romulus. We believe the Titan to have been destroyed. It also looks like the Romulons are massing a fleet of large powerful ships." Pickard responded.

"Captain, the Romulons are openly at war with us now, they have raided several of our outposts near the Neutral zone." She said. "We also have reports of a Romulon fleet, headed for scetre 15- 909."

"The Atlantian Colony?"

"Yes, and we have no way of warning Captain Decker until he exits the mirror universe. And by then it will be too late."

Captain Decker looked at the Defiant. Or this realities version of it. The ship was almost completely black, with only a couple of sliver heights, the name in a deep blue and the torpedo bays and phaser canons done in dark read. 

"Looks Spiffy." Lt. Brown said. Decker agreed. "Sir they are hailing us."

"On screen". Quiche ordered before Decker could respond.

The image of the defiant was replaced by one of Captain Sisco.

"State your presents, or be destroyed." He said.

"I'm Captain Decker of the Federation Star Ship Excelsior We are form the alternate reality, and are using this 'Mirror Universe' as safe passage to sector 15-909. We have no interest in the politics of this dimension and only wish safe passage."

The other captain considered this and on urging form one of his officers grudgingly agreed to let them pass through.

Decker thanked him and they were on their way. 

Will Ricker Came around; his first thought was that he was happy to be alive. He looked around surviving his surroundings. He, along with 3 of his senior staff, was being held in a dimly lit Romulon detention centre, the only sound he could here were, the humming of the force field, and the footsteps of the Romulon guards. As he listened more closely he could here the hum of engines, it was almost drowned out by the force field, but it was there. They were still on a ship, probably one of the Scimitar Class War-birds that had attacked his ship. 

He got up and walked across the high sealinged room, towards the door. He looked out into the equally dark corridor, which curved off into darkness on one side and on the other was a force field blocking the way. By the force flied was the guard, and he was a Reman!

Decker stood in his quarters looking out the window, as the stars streamed past.

"John?" Amy walked in.

"Haw did you get in?" He asked.

"Security bypass." She replied.

"Amy, did you want something?"

"Haw are you felling?"

"What you mean after yesterday." Decker said turning back to the window. 

"Yes," She walked up beside him, "pleas, I want us to have what we had before."

"You think that's such a good idea, us getting together?"

"I don't know, I just know haw I feel about you. I want us to be together."

Decker studied her face for a minute, before replying. "I don't think it's such a good idea, not now."

"I know, I know, emotional attachments and all."

"Look, I'm really sorry. But I don't think its such a good idea, especially with this assignment."

There conversation was interrupted by Quiche's voice over the com. "All senior staff report to the bridge.

"Captain we are about to project the exit aperture." Quiche said, as they walked onto the bridge.

"At your leisure, Commander."  Decker replied.

They all watched as the stream of charged plasma was expelled from the Nacelles, and collected 1.4 million kilometres form the ship. 

"Plasma collected, ready to emit pulse." Lt. Crusher said.

The energy pulse hit the ball of charge plasma, and it erupted into a crimson shockwave, that tore through the fabric of space-time. 

"The window is stable." Crusher reported. 

"Set course to go through, one third impulse." 

The ship drifted through the rift and minutes later it collapsed in a whirling of crimson energy. 

The ship jumped to warp heading toward the colony.

Captain Pickard and Admiral Janeway walked through the corridor of the Utopia Planisha. 

"Haw long until the Enterprise F can be space worthy?" The Admiral asked.

"37 hours." Pickard replied. "Why?"

"We received a communiqué form the Romuluns." 

"What about?" Thought of his friend Will being dead, or worst captured, flooded through Pickard's mind.

"They say they destroyed the Titan, and are holding its crew as prisoners of war. They also say that they will destroy the federation."

"Will." Pickard stopped.

"I'm sorry Jean-Luke." Janeway said turning to face him. "I'm organising a rescue party to go in get the crew of the Titan out. I want the Enterprise to be part of that rescue. Voyager will head it and I will be in charge. I'm giving you this opportunity to join this, but you must follow your orders to the letter. Is that clear."

"Yes Admiral, and thank you Kathryn."

The two of them walked off toward the briefing room. 

"Sir, we are approaching the coordinates of the Atlantian colony." Lt. Crusher Called from her station at the back of the bridge.

"Thank you." Decker said, and tapped a control on the panel that separated his form the first officer's chair. "All senior staff report to the bridge immediately."

Decker sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. Enjoying not having to make snap decisions in the heat of battle. Although he didn't doubt he would get the chance to do that before too long.  

Decker looked at the type G world, just one giant desert.

"Sir." Egnson Bates said. "The planetoid has Thulium core, we wont be able to use transporters, due to the interference."

"Understood," Decker replied standing, "Lt commander. Brown, Engson Bates, your with me, Quiche you have the bridge."

"Sir may I inform you that regulations prohibit the captain going on potentially hazardous away missions?" Quiche said standing.

"No." 

Amy covered a smile and followed Decker into the turbolift.


	6. Chapert 5

Chapter 5

The shuttle touched down on the featureless surface of the desert planate. 

"Sir, I'm picking up some sort of energy signature 1.5 kilometres to the west." Bates said.

"Captain, I suggest we use the Arga."  Brown put in.

"Very well." Decker stood and went aft to the dune buggy that the small craft held.

The buggy covered the ground to the sight in no time and they were in an equally bland area of the desert, with no sign of what could have caused the energy signature.    

"Sir the signal is still present, in fact it's increasing," Bates called, "exponentially!"

"What the hell is going on here?" Shouted Decker over a motorised whining, that had over the last couple of seconds built to a crescendo.

Suddenly a black metal monolith shot out the ground just 3 meters away. Lt. Commander Brown   swung her phaser rifle to cover it.

"Hold fire!" Decker called over the now ear splitting noise.

A read beam of energy shot out from the top of the monolith toward Brown. It swung across her, as thou it were some sort of scanner. Then moved on to the others scanning each in turn.

A crack opened in the sand right under Decker's feat and he jumped out the way to avoid falling. 

The stood back as the giant doors opened to reveal a tunnel.

"Lets go." Decker said.

Admiral Jane way sat in her ready room on Voyager, as along with the rest of rescue party it closed on the Romulan Neutral zone.

She was brought from her musings by the door chime. 

"Come in." She called.

"Captain we are approaching the Neutral zone." Her first officer tolled her walking in.  "And Captain Pickard wants to speak with you."

"Thank you Commander." She said as he was walking out.

"Admiral." He said.

"Captain what is it you want?" She asked.

"Why are you having the Enterprise stay back at the neutral zone?"

"Because if we get in trouble I want someone back here to go for help."

Although this was perfectly reasonable the captain of the Enterprise took it personally. 

"Admiral the Enterprise is one of the best ships in the fleet so it would it not be better used in the strike force?"

"Captain, I am not going to discus this with you, you are staying and that is that." She snapped, just as the ship rocked. 

She cut the channel and ran out onto the bridge.

"What the hell is going on?" She yelled above the klaxons.

"Three Romulon ships just opened fire on us Captain." Harry Kim called from his station.

"Shields are collapsing." Tuovck called from security.

More impacts rocked the ship.

The Argo rolled down the dark tunnel, the only light came from the buggies headlights and the wrist beacons the officers were using. Decker shone his torch over another of those giant quarts crystals; they had past dozens of them at regular intervals down the walls.

"Hold on a minute." Decker said remembering something from one of his geology classes.

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"Pass me one of the hand Phasers?"

She tossed him one which he caught and amid at one of the giant quarts crystals. He fired and as it heated up the crystal began to glow they looked down the wall as the heat was conducted and all the crystals began to glow, it gave them more than enough light to see by.

"And who says Thermoluminesance doesn't have any practical uses?" Decker joked.

They all jumped back into the Argo and carried on down the shaft into the colony.

"Sir! I'm picking up Romulon ships on the long range sensors." Lt. Crusher called.

"How many?" Quiche asked.

"Two no wait, three." 

"Understood, all hands battle stations, go to red alert, repeat, all hands battle stations, go to red alert." He called into the com. In response the lights went down and the read pulsing bars illuminated the bridge. "Can we raise Captain Decker?" He asked Crusher.

"No sir," She replied, "the interference that stopped us using the transporters is stopping communications.

"Is there any way we could warn them?" 

"Not in the time we have."   

The chamber was massive, Decker looked up and up. It must have been at least 100 feet high. The quarts crystals glowed brightly, illuminating the room? No chamber was defiantly the right word.

"Wow." Amy said cambering out of the Argo.

"Indeed." Decker agreed with her.

"Um sir, I think you should take a look at this?"  Bates called from the Cockpit of the Argo.

"What?" Decker asked cambering back in to look at the small screen. "Oh. Shit."

"What?" Amy Asked.

"Romulus." Decker said.

"We'd better get a move on then."

The all jumped into the Argo and sped of into the next chamber.

"Sir I'm picking up a power signature ahead, it matches that of the Atlantian artefact recovered from Earth."

Following Bates' directions they soon reached the source.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

The ship rocked as another impact racked the hull.

"Shields at 40% sir!" Lt Crusher called over the claxons.

"Evasive pattern alpha 5." Quiche ordered.

"Eye sir!" Crusher responded.

Suddenly the deck lurched from under their feet. 

The Arga rolled to a stop in a huge chamber, it's interior devoted to the cylindrical matrix in its centre. They all looked up, and up, the cylinder seemed to ascend forever.

"Sir, It seems to be a computer core." Bates said looking up from his console. "I think I have pinpointed a map room similar to the one on earth. 

Decker shivered at the memory of that day. 

The three of them panned out across the room each trying, in there own way, to take in it's vastness.

"Sir, There appears to be some sort of interface over here." Bates called from the base of the pillar.

"Can you access it?" Asked Decker walking over to join him.

"I think so sir." Bates tapped a control on his Tricorder, and the console beeped into life.

"John, the Romulons are getting close, can you make this quick." Amy called from the Arga.

Bates tapped at the console and the floor began to shudder.

"What did you do?" Amy called running over as the floor around the console began to rise.

"I tried to activate the map reading system." He replied defensively.

The small stage stopped hundreds of feet above the floor. 

"This can't be good." Amy said.

An object, that looked suspiciously like a gun swung at them, as did three others on the wall.

"This is not good." Amy said.

Decker closed his eyes as he hared them fire, but nothing happened he felt no impact, no pain, nothing except the floor beneath his boots. He chanced opening his eyes.

"Good God." Bates gasped, Decker had to agree, laid out before him, around him, above and beneath him was a vast, holographic map, all done in shades of green. It seemed to span most of the galaxy.

"Look." Amy said, pointing, the others followed her gaze, it was earth, on the brink of the universe, on the edge of the map, and the planet had a symbol next to it.

"Bates, can you tell me what these symbols mean?" 

"I'm not sure sir. Hang on." He turned to the console. "Just one minute. Aha." As he spoke the platform began to move toward the planate.

"Bates." The tone of Decker's voice said it all.

"I put in the sequence of symbols that matched Earth." He said.

They stopped next to Earth. It was nearly as tall as Decker, he put out his hand to touch it, but hi hand went straight through it.

"Sir there seems to be another algorithm here, but it's been encrypted, I think I can bypass the system, but if has been given this level of protection then it might not be advisable to try."

"Go ahead Bates. Give it your best shot." Decker encouraged him now feeling a little sorry for jumping on the man the last time had done something.

After a few seconds the map disappeared and the platform returned the top of the central coulomb. Something descended from the ceiling; they were all court of guard by what happened next. A robotic arm came out a grabbed Bates by the shoulders, it lifted him up and a tube came down to slam into the back of his neck as he was pulled up into what looked like a metal chrysalis.

Quiche picked himself up from the floor. "Status report!" He yelled over the sound of the alarms.

"Shields as 46 % sir, and that last volley took out our torpedo guidance system." Engson Hanigan called from tactical.

"Can you target manually?" Quiche said moving to the command chair.

"I might be able to but we'd need to be at point blank range to insure a hit."

"Lt. Crusher, can you get us within 15 kilometres of the Romulon ship?"

"I'll try." Another impact caused the deck to pitch and role under foot, Quiche was glad he had been seated.

The _Excelsior _rolled to port avoiding a torpedo barrage from the lead vessel, and pitched downward under the other ship before she could react torpedoes crossed the small gap between the ships and smashed the hull of the larger ship. The _Excelsior _flipped firing her dorsal phasers and releasing mines to latch onto the hull of the other ship.

The Romulon ship spun with surprising speed to follow the _Excelsior_ its right nacelle venting plasma. From his command chair Quiche had noticed the plasma leak. The _Excelsior_ ducked under another Romulon ship, firing phasers and torpedoes into the dorsal hull of the larger vessel, its pursuer still following it leaking plasma.

Quiche watched as the third ship came around cutting though the plasma trail.

"Detonate the mines!" He ordered.

The lead Romulon vessel exploded, the explosion ignited the plasma trail tearing through the other two ships. 

"Sir the lead vessel has bees destroyed the other two are intact but have massive system faller.

The map was shortly replaced with a hologram of the human body.

"What the hell is going on?" Amy demanded.

"I don't know." Decker replied.

The hologram began to change, as streams of text flowed around the room, and gradually changed to English.

With a sudden whoosh the chrysalis folded back to reveal a strange creature, its skin was a green grey colour, it was at least 7 feet tall, and had a long dish shaped face, what disturbed them the most was that it seemed to still have Bates eyes. 

"What are you? And what have you don with Bates?" Decker asked of it.

"You silly boy, we have don nothing with your friend, he is still here." The creatures voice was low and musical, and contained a derogatory tone.

"Where is he?" Brown asked.

"You are so young, so naive?" 

"What have you don with Bates." Decker yelled. 

"I am Bates!" The creature's yell echoed around the cave. "Haw do you think we were able to communicate with you understand your primitive language?"

"Who are you calling primitive?" Decker snapped.

"So young, and naive."  The creature chuckled. 

"Why are you here?" Amy asked trying to change the subject.

"We are here to protect." Decker gaped. "We know the Romulons, and the Borg are after our technology, we know you want to stop them, we know non of you stand a chance of getting to The Home-world without help, we are here to stop you from ever getting there."

"John, I'm picking up Borg drones beaming in, what? Damn?" 

"What is it?" 

"The Borg drones they disappeared."

"Oh, shit." Decker looked up at the Atlantian. "If you don't help us then the Borg will get the information they need, they will assimilate your society, and then they will destroy the quadrant, the universe! Do you want that on your shoulders!"  By the end he was shouting.

"We can withstand the Borg, we have withstood worse in our history."

"You know overconfidence is not a good trait."

"Once you worshipped us as gods."

"Even on would be gods! You have no idea what you are dealing with, you have never met them, you don't know…" the Atlantian's earlier words gave him an idea. "You clam to know what Bates knew. If that is true then you must know what the Borg are like."

"Yes, we know that you managed to beat them on numerous occasions. If a race like yours can then we certainly can." 

This was not going the way Decker wanted, a change in tactic was needed. "Why then, if you were so grate dose your civilisation lie in ruins, why if you were so grate is your race extinct?" 

"That is non of your concern!" the creature yelled.

"Bollocks, someone stood up to you, someone had the power to destroy you."

The Atlantian considered this for a moment. "Very well, you may take the coordinates of The Home-word. For all the good it will do you."

The Atlantian turned to the console. The hologram changed back to the map, and focused in on Earth. "This is your home planate." The view panned around to show a small planetoid. "This is were we are, the beacon world." The view shifted again to show a dark region of space close to the galactic core. "This is our Home-world." In the dark regon there was a massive system over twenty planted in total, and in its centre, a giant space station, no it wasn't a station.

"A Dyson sphere?" Decker gasped.

"Yes, the ultimate power of a twin core."

"But how do we get there?" Amy asked.

"Now that is the question." The Atlantian responded.

Suddenly a Borg drone appeared behind the Atlantian, plunging assimilation tubules into its neck. Without thinking, without hesitating Decker grabbed his phaser rifle and fired through the Atlantian's chest into the Borg drone. Amy opened fire beside him.

"John we have to get out of here, if the Borg have some sort of personal cloak then we are venerable."

"Yes." Decker said bending over the destroyed drone. "Not a cloak, they've assimilated the Jem' Hadar."

"That can't be good. We have to go now." She Stepped over to the console and tapped one control. As the lift descended Decker picked up Bates Tricorder, it was still recording. He closed it gently and pushed it into a pocket.

 By the time they were back on the floor John and Amy had formulated a plan. Amy walked over to the Argo and pulled one of the antimatter mines from the back. They attached it to the base of the reactor.

"John." She said setting it. " We have two minutes to get out of here." They jumped into the Argo. "The explosion will turn the surrounding desert into glass, if we aren't out we will not survive."

"Fair enough." Decker said doing a hand brake turn to spin the craft.

They sped down the corridors toward the entrance. 

"Thirty seconds." Amy said as they entered the Entrance shaft. Blocking their way was a small contingent of Assimilated Romulon solders. "Twenty seconds." Amy called; Decker hit a pad and Ablative Armour flashed over the craft. He tapped another control and from a small mounting on the underside of the craft a photon torpedo fired, Glass and fragments of drone rained down the small craft as it sped on. "Times up." Amy called; they were only a couple of meters from the surface.

Back on the _Excelsior, _Quiche sat back in his chair, and surveyed his handiwork.

 "Sir the interference has cleared up." Lt. Crusher said excitedly. "We can beam the away team up."

The Argo broke the surface just a head of the shockwave. The sand tore upward turning to glass under the extreme heat. Before it could hit the surface of the planet it was hit by a large chunk of glass and tumbled sideways rolling, molten rock erupted from the huge fissure and spewed toward the Argo.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 

Captain Decker materialised on the bridge of the _Excelsior_, and moved swiftly to his chair, Amy moved to the security station reliving the Engson.

"Sir, where is Engson Bates?" Quiche asked.

"He didn't make it. Lt. Crusher, are you picking up any Borg activity?"

"No, sir. No sign of Borg vessels." She responded. The control panel chirped. "Wait, One Borg scout. It had been modified with a Clingon cloak. It's opening a Transwarp aperture." 

"Sir, we should stop it." Quiche suggested.

"I think the Captain has another idea." Amy put in. Quiche just looked puzzled.

"Get the Borg ship in a tractor lock, and take us into the Traswarp aperture."

"Eye sir." 

The _Excelsior _slid into the Transwarp network. 

"Sir there is some sort of large scale disturbance in the Transwarp network." Amy called.

Decker leaned forward the read glow of the alert indicators bathed his face and gave him a predatory look. "Lets just find the right location and get out of here."

Lt. Crusher nodded, and began to move the ship through the network of corridors. "Sir I think we are at the right coordinates, but we can't open the aperture."

Decker looked around but before he could ask for suggestions Crusher chimed in again.

"Sir the aperture is opening." 

The ship coasted back into normal space, although, Decker thought, it's hardly normal. They were on the outskirts of a huge star system.

"Sir." The Engson who had replaced Bates said. "The outer planets are gas giants, but the closer to the centre you get the   larger they become, and the denser their compositions become. The first planate is the size of Jupiter."

"Understood, Crusher I think we can disregard protocol, I'd like to get to the centre some time today. Warp three."

As the _Excelsior _moved into orbit of the sphere, the space-time continuum was ripped open as a connection into transwarp opened.

Alarms sounded on the bridge, it was almost defining.

"Someone turn the bloody alarms off!" Decker yelled.

As the Engson finally got to grips with it the alarms stopped and silence rang out over the bridge. 

"Thank you." 

"Sir, there is a Borg, um, well the word ship doesn't really do it justice, coming out of Transwarp." Amy said. 

"Good god." Engson Gomez exclaimed from opps.

Decker agreed with the sentiment, or perhaps, the term _deus ex machaicha_ would be better suited.

"We really don't stand a chance." Amy said.

"Sir, I would suggest we find a way to destroy Atlantis before the Borg take it over." Quiche said.

"Captain." Gomez put in. "I believe we could cripple the Borg vessel. There are Synaptic nodes, that connect the collective on this ship, if all of them could be destroyed simultaneously the chain reaction would probably destroy the collective at least on a local basis, and cause chaos among the Borg mother ship and all the others in the area."

"Ok. We divide our recourses. Lt. Commander Brown Take a security detail and Gomez to plant antimatter mines on those nodes, remote detonate them when you get back to the ship, I will take a security detail and find a way to destroy Atlantis."

The Crew scattered in their respective directions.

Minutes later Decker materialized in some sort of amphitheatre along with six security guards including Engson McKenzie, Engson Shauna McKenzie was the younger sister of one of Decker's old friends, Commander McKenzie had been there last time, at the earth colony. He looked around, it was a dream come true, hi dream, ever since he was small, he had always dreamed of Atlantis, that fabled lost city, he'd read all he could, from Plato to Rand Felm-Ath, digesting what they had to offer on this lost civilisation, but never, not even in his wildest dreams did he ever expect to be standing here, in the Atlantian home-world somewhere near the centre of the universe, thousands of millions of light-years from earth. The sensation was only slightly marred by the nagging thought that he was here to destroy it all. 

"Sir we should be moving." McKenzie said. "The scans show that there is some sort of control centre in the next chamber.

Decker nodded and they set off in to the bowls of Atlantis. Before too long they found what they were looking for, it was a large complex, with a tower strangely similar to the one they had found at the Waypoint. Around the edge there were consoles and a sires of ominous tubes.

"Sir, from the recordings at Waypoint we have been able to decipher there language, so this should be a lot less haphazard and safer than the expiration at waypoint." One of the Officers said.

"Understood, can you bring up a schematic of this place?" Decker asked.

He turned to the console and began working on it, a moment later a lift platform unfolded from the central column. "Sir if you will just step onto the platform?" He said.

Decker just nodded and gestured for Engson McKenzie to join him. They stood on the platform and it began to descend, it took them through the shell and into the interior of the Dyson sphere.

"Ok sir." The Officer's voice came over the com as the hologram appeared around them. "You should be seeing a schematic of the sphere. It's massive, a diameter of about the equivalent of earths orbit. Oh, um, it appears that it surrounds a binary system." They looked at the hologram; it did show that there were two suns circling within the sphere. "If this is correct then the forces that this structure is under are tremendous, and it is a miracle of precision engineering that keeps it from collapsing into the suns. If we could nock it just slightly then the forces would cause it to collapse."

"Are you saying all we have to do is give it a quick shove?" Decker asked incredulously as the platform started to ascend.

"In theory yes, but we would have to give it one hell of a large shove to move something this bug, and anything within the circumference of the inner planet's orbit will be pulled into the sun. So it would be quiet difficult."

"Ah so we can't just use the tractor beam?"

"No sir. What the hell? Stop that thing!"

"Garvin!" McKenzie yelled.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." Was the only response that came, there was a scream from the com and then nothing. The lift moved painfully slowly back to the upper level.

As it reached the top Decker and McKenzie jumped off, only to see four Atlantians step out of the, tubes on the walls.

"Oh no."  Decker gasped. "Not again."

McKenzie dropped into a defensive stance pointing her phaser rifle at them.

"Welcome to the begging of a new world _Captain_."  It maid the word captain sound derogatory.   

 "Why have you don this to us?"

"You think that we helped you, back at Waypoint, for nothing, no you reminded us that we are an extinct people. Do you want to know why we became extinct?" 

"No but I get the impression that I don't have a choice." McKenzie laughed at Decker's glib remark.

"Oh how witty _captain_. We were not destroyed by a more advance race, there is non-who can fight against us and win. We are the perfect race combined from the DNA of hundreds, but we are not a race in our own rights, we are your future, your perfection, the perfection, the future of the whole galaxy. That was our undoing."

"What?" McKenzie looked like a small child walking into a quantum physics lecture.  

"They are an amalgamation of all the races from their domain, pretty much most of the universe known or otherwise, but they do not reproduce, they can't, can you? They have to engineer from a base, one of the other races."

"Essentially correct, we need the base code and proteins to start from, we, for all our advances, have not yet been able to create a stable base code, so we take it from the lesser beings, and super-evolve them, inputting the necessary code to make ourselves. We died out when another advanced race, broke down subspace in a perimeter around this system to stop us leaving, without a steady supply of base materials we died out." 

"Oh god! You talk about us like we were crops." McKenzie said she sounded outraged. Decker put his hand on the younger woman's shoulder; he had a feeling that wouldn't be the worst of it.

 "So what you think you can restart your race with only the four of you?"

"Oh no. We are not that naïve, we have all the crew of your ship, and we may be able to use these Borg, if not, their transwarp network will allow us to breach the subspace brake."

 Suddenly as if on cue Decker's com badge chirped.

"What is it?" He barked.

"Sir, we are being pulled into the sphere, and their dose not seem to be a way to brake free." Quiche's voice responded. 


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 

Amy Brown led the security team through the Borg vessel. So far they hadn't been attacked, but then they hadn't actually started trying to blow stuff up yet. They had so far planted three of the six bombs, and were moving to the fourth.

"The next target is just through the next chamber." Gomez whispered.

They moved through the entranceway, as Amy stepped in then she just stopped, Lt. Hannigan almost walked into her. It was easily 50 floors high, a truly giant chamber. But it wasn't sheer size that caused her to gape, the walls were lined with maturation chambers, all growing Borg drones.

"At a guess, a facility this size could turn out drones at the rate of one-hundred-thousand a day." Hanningan said.

"Wow." It was all Amy could think to say.

They hurried across the catwalk, to the other side. 

They had just finished planting the bomb, when all hell broke loos. 

Borg drones beamed in all around them. She dived for cover behind a large pulsating tube, as she did so she saw Hannigan take cover behind a console. One of the guards went down with darts sticking out of him; she could see the skin around the one in his had begun to turn grey. Gomez crouched behind some machinery, Amy saw a Borg appear behind her, they were using the shroud, she called out in warning, but wasn't heard over the sounds of battle, she razed her phaser to take out the drone but the machinery protected the drone as well. It plunged tubules into Gomez neck and dematerialized. 

She turned back to the battle, just in time to see a drone unshroud in front of her. It razed it's arm to assimilate her, but she was just fast enough to hit the arm with a phaser blast, and the forearm disintegrated the force of the blast causing the drone to take a step backward to regain its balance, and send Amy flying. She staggered to her feet and tried to clear her head as it came toward her, at last she could see properly, her phaser rifle was lying between two pipes. She dived for it but the drone was there, impossibly fast, it grabbed her with it's other arm, but couldn't keep it's grip with only one hand, the back of her tunic ripped and she fell to the deck, with a thud. As it bent toward her she could see the damaged arm being rebuilt by nanites, just a little closer she thought, it bent over her, grabbing her by the shoulder, she whorled in it's grip and fired the hand phaser point blank into its chest. But it was already too late. As it slumped over her she could see the room dissolve.  

The Atlantians surged them, Decker dived for the door, and just about maid it, long triple jointed arms maid a grab for him, as he scooted through the door.

He saw one of them pulling McKenzie toward one of the tubes, she was struggling, but it seemed to be to no avail, Decker fired his phaser rifle, the blast hit the thing square in the back, the hole seemed to knit back together as he watched, and the creature didn't even stop. It just kept going toward the tube; he fired again, this time at the creatures arm. At last a result; it dropped McKenzie. She stumbled toward him; he dashed forward, grabbed her under the arms and pulled helped her toward the door.

"Sir, I can't walk, you should leave me You'll never make it with me." She protested trying to push his arm off her.

"No. I've already lost to many men to those things, I'm not going to let them get you, and besides what would I say to Jo?" His attempt at humour was lost on her, but at least she was content to let him drag her to the door.

"Quiche, can you beam us back to the ship?" Decker asked of his com badge.

"…Sir, but… not… we have… our own." The link was so full of static that they could hardly make out what he was saying.

"Quiche, beam us out."

"…Repeat… is failing."

" Energise!" The soft light of the transporter engulfed the, Decker permitted himself a sigh.

They materialised on the transporter pad in one of the transporter rooms.

"Beam Her to sickbay and I need to get to the bridge." Decker ordered the tech.

"That won't be possible sir." The Bolian said. "I'm afraid the ship is under anti-intruder lockdown, security fields are blocking transport to all major locations, you can make your own way, and deactivate the field in a local area like a doorway with your command codes, but the journey is not advisable. The only reason we could get you on board is that the shields have been destroyed."

"What?" Decker asked.

"Some sort of energy beam just drained them."

"Oh." Decker said. 

"How close can you get us to the bridge?" McKenzie asked.

"I could put you in the captains read room." The Bolian replied.

"How close to sickbay?" Decker asked.

"Corridor outside the door. But it's risky they might get you before you can get in."

"What are they, what happened?" 

"Some sort of robot, they beamed on board after Atlantis pulled us in, they've been grabbing people and beaming out. That's all I know."

Suddenly one of the Robots materialized in the doorway. Decker and McKenzie fired their phasers at it but to no avail, it moved toward the Bolian with a single-minded determination. It's arms latched onto his shoulders. The two officers concentrated their fire on its arms, and managed to dislodge one the Transporter tech dropped but the thing kept hold as it dematerialized.

"Damn." Decker cursed.

"Sir I would suggest trying for the armoury, the photon torpedo launchers would probably have more affect." McKenzie suggested.  

"Where is the nearest armoury?"

"There should be one on this deck. I could beam you there."

"Ok But keep your head down whilst I'm gone."

"I would be more than happy to oblige sir." A small smile tugged at her lips, it seemed like the ghost of her normal one. He slipped his arm under her shoulders and helped her to the console.

As he walked back she programmed to system to keep a lock on him should he need to get out in a hurry.

"Energies." He said from the pad. She traced a circle on the pad and watched as it lit up under her finger, showing the buffer was filling. She tapped another control and slid her finger the other way to empty the buffer and deposit the captain in the armoury. Then she slumped behind the console, and hoped that one of those things didn't get her.  

Amy came around strapped to a table in the Borg vessel. This was not good, her com badge and phaser had been taken, and she turned her head to see Lt. Hannigan, her second in command of security, and the others strapped to tables. Lt. Hannigan was already too far-gone and was having an eyepiece fitted. Engson Gomez was already standing motionless in the centre of the room. A green light shone on her. As Amy watched her skin turned even greyer, and her body dissolved, a cylinder about the diameter of a dustbin came up underneath her. A drone moved up and took, almost with reverence, a metallic spine from the table, and as Amy watched the skin split down what was left of her back and up her neck. The spine was inserted into the hole that then closed; automatic arms razed a robotic torso towards the remnants of Gomez, and clicked into place small appendages clamping on the remaining flesh, the arms and legs were fitted to the torso next. Then her head split open and a transponder descended to slip into place in her skull.

Amy gasped, as the Borg Queen turned to look at her.

"I thought I should be here in person." And then at Amy's incredulous look. "No silly girl, I am not here just to see you be assimilated, I am here to witness our victory, our greatest our as we gain the technology of species 5702."

McKenzie jumped as her com badge chirped, and nearly banged her head on the console.

"Sir?" She responded.

"Yes, its me McKenzie, can you beam me back?"

"Eye sir." She responded as though it had been an order, even though it had sounded more like a request. As she worked the console, she wondered if he was always this nice. She hope so, it would make this assignment a lot more fun. He rematerialized on the pad, along with most of the armoury.

As soon as he rematerialized Decker stepped of the pad and gave McKenzie a Photon Torpedo Launcher, the weapon was surprisingly light and small, that was because like the ship, it was designed to replicate the torpedoes on demand, or at least three at a time. It was a grey tube with the trigger on the top, designed to be mounted on the shoulder so you cold pear through the sight and hit the trigger, but when Decker had tried it, he found you could shoot from the hip, with it under your arm, and your hand wrapped around to reach the trigger, the guidance system, was activated by a button on the hand grip that projected a laser which the torpedo flowed.

"Ok, Can you beam me to my ready room, and then stay low, even though your better armed try and avoid dukeing it out with one of those things." 

She smiled at him and started reprogramming the coordinates for his ready room.

Decker stepped onto the pad, and felt the transporter tug at him then the room dissolved. 

Amy twitched her hand and found that she could feel something in her pocket. After some careful manoeuvring she got it out and into view, it was the micro-pad that was the remote for the bombs they had planted, it made her wonder where the ones they hadn't had a chance to place were? And for that were any of them still active? She tapped at the controls with her fingertips, and to her delight the symbols began to turn green, it meant they were still functional and active, but not armed. She cold arm and detonate them from the micro-pad, but would this be the best time? Would there be a more appropriate time later? Like maybe when she wasn't tied up. 

Gomez, no, that wasn't Gomez anymore, it didn't eve n look like her anymore, All that was left was The Borg Queen, she, it turned from watching the Atlantian colony resist all attempts at assimilation, it seemed to notice the pad and moved toward Amy, the hell with it, she thought, and began arming the bombs, they turned orange, all except one, that went dark, disengaged she hoped it was one of the spars, she was almost out of time, she hit the pad, and, nothing, the Queen stood over her, she tapped it again.

"I have set up a jamming field, your Starfleet signal won't get through." She scoffed. "What is that, you are holding? Give it to me." 

Amy didn't move.

The clamp on her arm released.

"Well then we will see how much more obedient you are as a drone."  She extended her arm and tubules flicked out.

In the last act of a helpless person Amy twisted her arm so the tubules hit the pad, and ejaculated nanites all over it, a black spider web of Borg technology grew over it, as the Queen interfaced wit it. Amy could see through the growing spider web the symbols turning read one at a time.

"What have you done?!" The Queen shrieked. Amy just smiled as the explosions rocked the ship. Panels exploded, and Borg drones spasmed, the Queen went insane, throwing herself around, until she collapsed on the floor, the clamps released Amy. 

In the corner of the room she found a com badge, and tried to contact the _Excelsior _but to no avail, all she could get was static. Something had gone seriously wrong.  


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 

 Ricker stood in the Romulon cell, and watched as the forcefield was deactivated and a tall Reman walked in.

"Captain Ricker?" He said extending his hand. Ricker just nodded.

"We offer our sincere apologies for this mistake, we Remans have as you would say staged a palace revolt, with the Romulon empire so distracted by the lure of Atlantis we have seized control of the Empire. Again we offer sincere apologies. Your coordinates have been relied to the Federation ships in orbit, and they will beam you up shortly."

Ricker was about to say something, ask him about the peace treaty when the room dissolved into a wash of light.  

Captain Decker materialized in his ready room. Chairs and tables had been overturned and pads lay on the floor, he quickly moved to the lift that took him to the briefing room, but it was offline. Cursing he kicked it, and moved to pull the cover of one of the Jeffries Tubes and crawled inside pulling the torpedo launchers behind him. Soon he was at the entrance to the bridge, as he had expected there was a forcefield just in front of the door, he reached out and tapped his command override into the nearest console, with a stutter the forcefield collapsed, and he hurried through.

Quiche turned razing his phaser as one of the Jeffries Tube hatches opened, he was about to fire when a human hand, came out.

"Quiche. If you pull that trigger I will beat the crap out of you!" Decker said climbing out the tube and onto the bridge.

"Sir, the Sphere has us in some sort of holding beam, we can not brake free." Quiche informed him. "The drones started beaming on board as soon as our shields collapsed, we are holding up in the high security areas like the bridge and sickbay."

"What about weapons?" 

"The holding beam is stopping us use weapons and activate the armour, it also appears to be jamming our communications, and we have not been able to contact the team on the Borg ship."

Decker nodded, a plan already formulating, kill two birds with one stone and all that, there was no way out, but it would put a stop to the Atlantian's plans. For good.

"Quiche, is there any way we could get a signal to the team on the Borg ship?"

"Not likely sir. We might be able to from the surface of the sphere, but that would be very risky, we have calculated that there are approximately one hundred Ataltains by now."

"They've taken one hundred crew members?"

"No sir, but information we gleaned from the information gathered at Waypoint and here, shows that they can brake one person down to make several Atlantians, should the need arise."

"Sir." Lt. Crusher said. "Would it be possible to take out the emitters for the holding beams out using hand held weapons from the hull?"

Decker looked at Quiche.

"It might work. With the photon torpedo launchers."

Amy ran through the Borg ship, a drone came up to her, she pushed it aside and carry on running, having no idea where she was going. She tripped and fell crashing to the deck, where she stayed gasping for breath.

"Are you ok Miss?" A strange voice came; she whirled pointing her reclaimed phaser at the drone. "Pleas don't shoot?" it said.

"What? What is going on?" Amy asked the Borg.

"Don't know; we just suddenly came out of the dream."

 Amy realized that when the synaptic nodes were destroyed the drones had regained their individuality. "What's your name?" 

"My name? Three of. No. It's James. My name is James."

"Well James, I need to contact my ship. Can you help me?"

"I will try. You did this didn't you? You freed us?"

Amy didn't know what to say. In all likely hood yes she had done it, but would it help her to admit it, or would it just do more harm? Finally she decided. "Yes I think I was the one who saved you." 

"Then I will gladly help you find your ship."

They moved off down the corridor.

Decker climbed the ladder out onto the hull of the ship, he and three other guards armed with photon torpedo launchers were moving down the port side, Lt. Jamison, lead the other team down the starboard side.

Decker looked up to hundreds of the drones swarming toward the ship. "Oh, good lord. We have company!" 

The others looked up, one of them swore, Decker agreed with the sentiment.

"Sir there's the first target." One said pointing with the targeting laser of his weapon. 

"Ok, You." Decker gestured to one of the guards. "You cover our backs, and you." He gestured to the other one. "Target that thing and fire at will."

The two of them fired torpedoes into the emitter to no affect. Decker could hear the drones; they weren't going to be held of long.

Suddenly the guard to Decker's right was snatched up by one of the drones, Decker fired the torpedo slammed into the robot and it exploded sending the guard spinning of into space.

"Decker to transporter room two, beam McMorgan back to the ship." There was no response. 

"Transporter room two come in!" Decker rolled to avoid one and fired again. But there was no answer. Where was McKenzie?

"_Excelsior_ beam McMorgan back to the ship." 

"Eye sir!" A crisp voice came over the com, and Decker watched Mc Morgan dissolve.

"Quiche, it's not working!"  

"Understood sir, they must have some sort of shielding, on them, get back to the ship now."

"Ok. Transporter room one, beam all security officers back to the ship."

"Negative sir, we can't get a lock. Not whilst your no the hull"

Decker and the other security officers ran as fast as the EVA suites would allow toward the airlock.

 "It appears that your ship has been pulled into the station." James said looking up from his console. "A dampening filed has been erected, that is stopping them use weapons or propulsion."

"Can we help them?" Amy asked.

"I don't know, maybe one if we can contact one of the cubes then it can take out the dampening field." He bent over the console again.

"This is cube 3067." The voce cam over the com.

"Can you destroy the dampening field that holds the federation ship?" Jams asked.

"We will try." 

Amy watched on the monitor at the Cube made a pass at the docking bay that held the _Excelsior_ it fired weapons but thy barley made a scratch. It came back for another pass. This time a holding beam caught it. As it was pulled in it opened fire on the emitters of the dampening field.

Decker watched the Borg cube being pulled in, and was astonished, to see it fire on the emitters for the dampening filed and no the tractor beam that was pulling it in.

"Sir all systems back on line." Quiche's voice cam over the com channel.

"Good." The he looked at where he was. "Quiche, arm the Port pulls turret and fire at the drones perusing me."

He dived for cover as the turret rose out of the hull plating and fired a spread of superheated plasma into the crowd of drones. Then he felt the pull of the transporter.

He rematerialized on the bridge.

"Quiche?" 

"We have activated the armour, and are repelling the last of the drones that are still on board, but they do not appear to be able to beam through the armour."

Decker nodded sitting down on his command chair. "Can we contact the team on the Borg ship?"

"We should be able to sir." Replied Lt Crusher.

"Open a channel."

"Channel open."   

Amy was surprised when her com badge chirped.

"Yes." She responded.

"Amy. What's the status of your team?" Decker's voice came over the channel.

"We were attacked, as far as I know I'm the only one left. We detonated some of the antimatter bombs, and it seems to have caused to collective to collapse."

"You mean they are all dead?"

"No John, far from it. They all seem to have returned to their former selves, they are individuals again."

There was silence on the other end of the channel for a moment. 

"What is it John?"

"The Atlantians are intent on rebuilding their civilisation, we have to destroy that station. The only idea we have had so far is to ram the Borg ship into the Dyson Sphere, but both ship and station would be sucked into the Super-suns and destroyed."

"I understand." Amy turned to James. "Did you hear that?"

He nodded. "We would be sacrificing ourselves to save the universe." He gave a sharp bark of laughter. "It seems ironic doesn't it? That the Borg saves the universe."

"But you aren't Borg any more." 

"No, I suppose you are right, and it is you we have to thank for that. As a grate man once said. 'As you have given me my life it seems only fair that if I must give my life up it is for you.' It is a good sentiment. Amy, you have given us life, anew. And now we chose to give them back."

He turned back to the console. "It is done, a course is laid in." 

"Thank you." She said as the wash of transport faded over her.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 

She walked into his quarters, to see him staring out the window. She didn't say anything, didn't know what to say. So she just stood beside him and watched.

The Giant Borg ship collided with the station, you could see it start to buckle under the strain, then it began to collapse inwards, the Super-suns ate at the giant world, and the Borg ship alike both being crushed and folded inward.

The _Excelsior_ along with five Borg cubes waited just outside the point of no return of the stars. The Borg ships had refused to leave until their mammoth mother ship was gone, a sign of respect.

Quiche watched his readouts with growing awe. According to what he was seeing they were about witness the birth of a black hole. As wondrous as it may be he knew they were to close.

"Lt. Crusher, send a message to the Borg ships telling them we need to leave now, the suns are turning into black holes."

"Eye sir." She tapped a control. "They have acknowledged and are preparing to go into transwarp." 

As the last of the station was sucked in the suns gave out a brilliant flash and began to collapse in upon then selves, gradually turning darker and darker. The extreme gravity began to pull at the ships. The Borg ships opened the gateway to transwarp and pulled the _Excelsior _through just in time. 

Three days later Decker was reading the casualty reports.

"Engson Bates, Engson Gomez, Lt. Hannigan." So many names all lost for nothing, but there was something more, he changed the list slightly and reread it, 100,000 Liberated Borg, that was better, fitting. 

Then there was the question of replacements. They needed a new Officer at Opps, to replace Bates and Gomez, he had no idea of whom, but he was sure someone would prove himself or herself in the not to distant future. Then there was the question of Lt. Hannigan's replacement; he had an answer to this one.

Engson McKenzie walked in nervously. He was pleased to see her again, after he had left her in the transporter room unable to walk. But she had been fine, they had found her in one of the Jeffries tubes, and helped her to sick bay where she had made a full recovery. 

"You asked to see me sir?" 

"Yes, as you know with the unfortunate death of Lt. Hannigan a position has opened up as second in command of security." He paused and let the impaction sink in. The expression showed that she wasn't sure weather to be happy or sad. "I want you to take that position. Lt. McKenzie." He finally finished handing her a small box, she opened it and smiled looking at the pip inside, when she caught the captain looking at her she sobered her expression.

"It's Ok to be happy, it's what Lt. Hannigan would have wanted." Then walking around the desk he shook her hand and she smiled at him. He had been right about her smile.


End file.
